MOSCOW, July 23 Russia can create a tanker fleet to operate on the Northern Sea Route together with Chinese shipbuilders and component suppliers, said the executive secretary of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation for issues of strategy for the development of the fuel and energy complex and environmental safety and the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin.
The Northern Sea Route (NSR), with a length of more than 3 thousand nautical miles (5556 kilometers), connects the Barents Sea and the Bering Strait and is the shortest route between Europe and Asia. In addition, the route is the shortest sea route between the Far East and the European part of Russia. It is expected that transportation along the NSR will reach more than 72 million tons in 2024, and about 194 million tons by 2030.
“The operation of the NSR will require a high-ice-class tanker fleet, which can be created in cooperation with Chinese shipbuilders and component suppliers,” Sechin said during his speech at the VI Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum.
